British veteran's death severs link to World War I

British veteran's death severs link to World War I

February 14th, 2012 in Opinion Free Press

Florence Green probably never dreamed when she signed up for the British Women's Royal Air Force in 1918 that she would become famous around the world more than nine decades later as the last known surviving veteran of World War I.

But with the death of a World War I British sailor last year, Green was the final living veteran from that awful conflict.

And now that link, too, has been severed, with Green's recent death in Britain -- at the age of 110! She had lived with her 90-year-old daughter up until a few weeks ago and would have turned 111 this coming Monday.

Green -- Florence Patterson at the time -- worked as an officer's mess steward in the war.

"There were plenty of people at the airfields where I worked, and they were all very good company," she told London's Telegraph newspaper prior to her death. "I would work every hour God sent, but I had dozens of friends on the base and we had a great deal of fun in our spare time. In many ways I had the time of my life. I met dozens of pilots and would go on dates. I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes, but I was scared of flying. It was a lovely experience and I'm very proud."